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Welcome to the former members of the Elements class, now transitioning into CrossFit classes! Here they are with the regular 6am crew after an especially good partnership.
Also, Angie Paul’s handstand pushups are superb and we don’t hold her responsible for the fact that her lovely husband, who can do “Linda” in 21 minutes, hasn’t yet mastered the hand stand pushup. Don’t worry Josh. This situation will be quickly remedied. It might be that extra foot of height you possess relative to Angie that gets you.
 Don’t forget to sign up for the 8th Annual Arizona Outlaw Rowing Marathon. We have a white board set up so we can gather teams. Saturday the 18th, either solo, 4-person or 10-person teams.
  
Carl and I would like to officially welcome the newest CrossFit Works team member, Kevin Nichols of Prime Academy. Carl and I have known Kevin for years and have worked with him in a variety of different venues including teaching together. As some of you know, the CrossFit Kids program here at CrossFit Works has been on hold for awhile. As the lead programmer and head trainer here at CrossFit Works, I take coaching young athletes incredibly seriously. There are a variety of important aspects to training young people. First and foremost is the safety aspect. Young bodies entering puberty and growth spurts are incredibly complicated. Bones grow faster than muscles and connective tissue. What is safe for an adult is not safe for a teenager. What is safe for a teenager one day is not safe for them the next week. Training young people is one of the most serious undertakings in the field of athletic training. Secondly, is the “I-will-live-forever-and-can-do-anything” mentality that characterizes young people and makes them so incredibly wonderful and yet, dangerous to themselves. It is a responsibility of the trainer to be knowledgeable enough and be a strong enough leader, to prevent young athletes from performing lifts or exercises that could cause them permanent harm. Just because they can do it, doesn’t mean they should do it! Perfect form is important. Thirdly, is that keeping young kids focused, safe and inspired is a special gift. Kevin Nichols has years of experience as an elementary classroom teacher prior to becoming a full time youth conditioning specialist. Kevin and I both adhere to CrossFit Kids training methods. Kevin comes into CrossFit Works with many young athletes already under his coaching eye, and he has openings for more. Here is our new CrossFit Kids schedule:
Crossfit Works Kids Schedule
>> Ages 6-9 ~ Sat. 9:30-10:30 Wed. 3:00
>> Ages 10-12 ~ Mon/Wed. 4:00-5:00
>> Ages 13+ ~ Tuesday/Thursday 3:30-4:30 Saturday 11:00
If you have young athletes with sport specific needs contact Kevin for an evaluation or get your kid in to have fun! You can contact Kevin at kevin@crossfitworks.com.
While we are on the subject of the younger generation I want to especially congratulate my own teenaged personal training client, Jeremy Chandler. Jeremy has to be one of the most hard working crossfitters I have met, since he uses crossfit as his strength and conditioning program for his true sport, BMX riding. Jeremy recently was invited to the Olympic Development Camp for BMX in southern California. He also has one of the very best power cleans in our gym. Check out this video of Jeremy at the Olympic Training Center last week:
Congratulations Jeremy. Amazing accomplishment.
This is like an enormous, wonderful, free gift to your CrossFitting. CrossFit’s Ph. D. mobility specialist and owner of San Francisco CrossFit, Kelly Starett, has begun a mobility blog with the most fantastic videos, homework and exercises for all you crossfitters out there. Try this: read a couple posts, watch a couple of his videos and tell us what you have figured out about yourselves. I can’t think of anymore words or phrases to convey how important a topic this is and how phenomenal a resource this is for you guys. This video has some important concepts for your favorite challenge-the ring dip. Learn about your shoulder and how to keep it safe.
 Welcome to Krista and congrats to Renee who took about 30sec off her previous “Randy”
 Like it ladies! Jimena’s first hero workout.
 Jordan warms up the Snatch.
Hmmm, there is a Universe of difference between a power output focused CrossFit workout like “Randy” where you used a power snatch to take a relatively light weight from the ground to overhead, and performing a Snatch that would be counted as “good” at any Olympic Lifting meet. During “Randy” on Monday, we went wild for time with the Power Snatch and as long as it touched the ground and then ended up locked out somehow overhead, it was good. Yesterday, we completed the 70s Big August Challenge which included a Snatch (power or otherwise) that had to actually meet OL specs-locked out overhead all in one motion. For some folks this was a major obstacle!! Why did you have to lock it out overhead like that for it to count, some of you kept asking. That’s like asking why you have to cross the finish line in a marathon or why you can’t have someone push your bicycle from behind during a race. Because that is what the sport is. The Snatch Olympic Lift is what it is. Why is this becoming important? CrossFit has recently teamed up with the United States Weightlifting Association to host a CrossFit/USAW competition. It will include the Olympic Lifts, according to Olympic Lifting rules, and a Crossfit workout. Click here to see the details of the event. Very exciting stuff!! So, a high five to David M. for his 165lb power snatch last night, to Bryon L. for his 160 and to Larry, Chris H., Eric L. and Ben T. for their 155lb power snatches. Kate has recently power snatched 110 and Maria C. got 90lb yesterday!
For the 75 power snatches that were “Randy” we have some new records on the board including, CJ P. at 4:10, Sam I. at 4:22, Eric L. with 4:42 and David M. with 4:48. We also have Jenny L at 3:50, Kate W. with 4:40, Jen H. at 5:54, and Maria C. at 6:25. High five also to Nicole B. who ran her first ever continuous mile that day!!
Check out Coach Burgener’s daughter Sage demonstrating the power snatch.
  Just your average discussion about crossfit. Jordan’s life is flashing before his eyes as Andres tells it like it is.
Reading discussions about training methodology is a blazingly good time. Especially if you have not had your daily dose of testosterone-fueled brilliance. Everyone knows everything better than anyone else. Still, reading about training programs is one of my favorite past times. Recently, I have been reading a discussion about overtraining. There are many folks out there doing these crazy “crossfit-style” programs that are getting ground into the dirt. Overtraining is basically when you start getting injured frequently, are tired all the time, don’t look forward to working out, get sick often and your progress either plateaus or drops. Overtraining occurs when your body is subjected to more stresses than it can recover from. The most common stresses on us include: lack of sleep, crappy nutrition, drinking alcohol, job-related anxiety, miserable or missing personal relationships, family dilemmas and workouts. If you train at CrossFit Works, following our programming (and not adding in your own additional extra stuff) it will be nearly impossible for your workout program to be the primary cause of “overtraining”. At CrossFit Works we program and train very smartly, in fact, some might say with a tiny dash of getting-it-right. If you experience the symptoms of “overtraining” that I listed above you should examine your life in the following order:
1. Are you doing extra training (running/cycling)?
2. Are you sleeping 8-9 hrs per day?
3. Are you well hydrated using electrolytes?
4. Do you eat often enough and is it good nutritious Paleo food or a bunch of bunk?
5. Is your job/school a nightmare?
6. Are your kids/family/friends/partner a source of strife for you?
7. Are you training too hard?
Human nature is almost always about “more is better”. If working out is good, working out harder and longer must be better. If eating is good, eating more and more and more is better… Oh, wait no, we learned already that isn’t accurate.
Remember, CrossFit is supposed to be about general physical preparedness. This training program is supposed to be a long term way of life for you, so that you are as healthy and fit as you can be within the context of your life. And if you can do “Fran”, one of the original CrossFit couplets, in a small handful of minutes, you can absolutely be sure that you can enter the next local 5k fundraiser run and cross the finish line with ease. CrossFit, with it’s short, simple brilliant workouts can be the Secret to a Long-Happy Life. Train short, train hard, train heavy, train smart. Do not fall for that Devil’s temptation that is the 30-40minute met con 4 or 5 times per week with the oddest, most cobbled together selection of exercises. Any one can reach into the grab bag and pull out 4 or 7 exercises and string them together so that it takes you forever and you feel like throwing up at the end. That is not a training program. Look right on down the road a few years and see yourself overtrained. Enjoy your training program…the workouts you do week after week forever, and know that you are ready for anything and you are HEALTHY!!
Watch this video carefully because I’m thinking this will make a really good warm up to get you in the 70s Big mood.
That’s right. It is time for the August 70s Big Challenge. Little change in the schedule for the Challenge. It will now occur as our second workout this week. OK-read carefully, here is how it will work. This Challenge will take more than an hour, and although I don’t understand you, I know some of you prefer a lot of heavy breathing to lifting heavy weights. Therefore, I am going to take the unusual step of providing you with a choice. When you come to class on Tuesday or Wed you can either do the 70s Big Challenge or you can row a 5k. I don’t program in 5k rows for our classes very often due to the extreme mind numbing boredom involved, and the fact that we have only 6 rowers, but I know there are some of you out there who would love to know your 5k row time. Your prowess with the 5k row might also help you decide to participate in an upcoming rowing challenge…
Crossfit Northwest Tucson
Invites you to join us for a morning
Of fun and frivolity,
And
ROWING 42,195 meters!!!!!
September 18th, 0900
CFNWT in conjunction with The Arizona Outlaws rowing team is hosting a marathon
There will be 3 categories: Solo,4 person and 10 person teams
There will be a $5.00 entry fee per rower, proceeds to benefit Arizona Asthma and The Pheonix Junior Rowing Team
Let’s send a flotilla of CrossFit Works rowers up there on the 18th!! Carl will sing and I will dance so that you won’t get bored. We will use one of the white boards in the gym to help you guys organize teams.
Now, if you choose to do the 70s Big Challenge as it is supposed to be done you will run over class time. If you are normally in a morning class, but would like to give yourself additional time please feel free to come on Tuesday evening to do the Challenge. NO ONE WILL BE DOING THE CHALLENGE ON WED evening. Do not ask to do it ’cause the answer will be no. If you are in Andres’ 5:30pm or Jen’s 6pm class please come early if you can on Tuesday night. We will not run individual separate classes that night. Just one big weightlifting, rowing bash. Here are the details of the Challenge straight from the horse’s mouth:
“The August Challenge is simple. Work up to your heaviest single in the snatch, clean & jerk, squat, bench press, and deadlift. That’s your total. I say heaviest single because this won’t be a max. You can take as many attempts as you need. Make your jumps and attempts wisely (the smart ones will not take three attempts on every lift). Here are the rules (because someone will ask):
* This must all be done in one session.
* Lifts must be done in order.
* The snatch and clean and jerk must be caught in a locked-out position. If you press it out, it doesn’t count.
* Yes, it’s ok if you power snatch or power clean.
* Squat must be to depth-crease of hip below top of knee.
* Bench does not have to pause on chest. This doesn’t mean you should dribble the bar off your sternum, though.
* The deadlift must be raised without hitching. It must also be lowered to the ground, not dropped above the knee like some dumbass. Your mama raised you better than that.
* Sumo is fine. Straps are not.”
Ooooh boy this will be fun. Please know your bodyweight when you get here. I must report it with the results.
I am actually in the middle of this mob somewhere explaining the workout.
The mob, officially known as my 20-person!! 6pm class, warms up with some partner wallballs
 Down to business.
Seriously commendable. This bench mark workout is certainly not a staple for us, but sometimes these things have to happen in a CrossFit world. It was very clear that after about 5-17minutes (depending on the person) your intensity dropped off sharply. Since the definition of crossfit includes the word “high intensity”, we usually do workouts that enable you to work at…drum roll…high intensity. 30 minute workouts are not high intensity. But, luckily for all of us, the definition of crossfit also includes the words “constantly varied” and “unknowable”, so that means all sorts of things are appropriate for us. Even “Chelsea”!
Top finishers. All Rx’d.
Top scores for the Women involve Liz and Janice anchoring a bunch of Jennifers:
1. Liz C. – 15 then 7
2. Jen H. - 8 then 12
3. Jen C. – 6 then 11
4. Jennifer S. – 6 then 10
5. Janice - 5 then 14
Top for the Men:
1. Josh P. - All 30+2
2. CJP - All 30+1
3. Jordan S. - All 30
4. Jason P. 23 then 2
5. Erik M. 17 then 8
Extra award in the men’s division: Gold star/badge of honor for Jason P., Jordan Schupan and Erik M. whose stuff was all “to spec”.
Yellow towels are for equipment and floor. Your raw human physicality is, of course, compelling and irresistible, but there are certain things that should not be shared even with your fellow crossfitters. The white towels are for your dewey skin. All dirty towels go in the hamper next to the blue lockers.
 It would be really excellent to have a little army of robots to clean the gym. We don’t. You can find spray bottles filled with cleaning solution and clean rags in one of the blue cubbies. Please wipe down anything you sweat all over including the benches, wall balls, ab mats, lacrosse balls and situp mats so that the person who uses those things right after you is not quite so intimate with you. Don’t worry about the floor. You should see the robots who come in to clean that…they used to work for NASA, but were WAY too cool to be wasted on a space program. No, really, real people clean our floor. If you make a chalk mess (which does not help your pullups) or leave your half empty water bottle or your used tape (GROSS!!) real people clean it up for you. MOST IMPORTANTLY!!! If you rip your hands and bleed on the pull up bars or the barbells IT NEEDS TO BE CLEANED ASAP. Use the spray bottles or ask for help. Your fellow crossfitters shower you with their gratitude, but not their ickiness!
 
A HUGE SHOUT OUT to Danny from my 6pm class who is in the process of making many many new sets of parallettes for us. Monday night’s classes gave Danny a little helping hand as part of our warm up. Last year the CrossFit Games included hammering a spike into the ground so if sawing PVC is in next year you all have a leg up. I know most of you are not intimate with the parallettes, but you should (and will) change all that. Remember that you are supposed to have fun and play around in your gym. Try new things, fall down (safely, duh). If I added up my cumulative laugh time in this gym, a lot of it would settle down on a set of parallettes. Stuff gets exceedingly difficult on the parallettes, but it is also a good, wrist-gentle, way to try out some gymnastics progressions and balancing exercises. Just don’t forget to laugh when you fall over dozens of times. I highly suggest you get busy with some parallette training so you can do these pushups soon…
If you can carry on a conversation in French while you do it that will be awesome. I bet he would have something to throw down at a grip strength competition too.
If that isn’t challenging enough for you perhaps this?
In the Paleo House is ready to serve you delicious food so that you can contemplate the big, philosophical aspects of our human diet with contentment. It is always easier to think grandly while enjoying delicious food. This time I (Jen) am teaming up with my good friend, CrossFitter/Mama/Cook extraordinaire Lisaanne, to show you guys that there aren’t any reasons not to make the celebrations in your life Paleo. Superbowl party, cocktail hour, friends over for hanging out, or any kind of entertaining can be done deliciously and Paleolithically. This time we will not be roasting an entire animal (but we will get to that one of these days) we will be putting together some party food for you. People always suggest to me (people are always suggesting to me there are several instances in life when eating Paleo is simply not possible) that when you host a gathering you can’t do it without bread and cheese or chips and dip or crackers etc… I think that Lisaanne and I are totally up for this little challenge. We will feed you many types of party food while you enjoy the world-changing movie FOOD, Inc.. While you are reassessing your relationship to your food supply, you will be at least enjoying your food. After the movie I will talk about the relevance of the issues in Food, Inc. to our own Paleolithic approach to eating. We’ll look at where the movie fell short of getting the whole picture. I’ll answer questions and hopefully you will go home, satiated and convinced that rather than being a depressing, discouraging movie you have witnessed another motivation to eat magnificently and sustainably!
AUGUST 21 at 5:30pm is the date and time. Location is central Tucson and directions will be provided as soon as you are paid (25$) and signed up!! Call 520.623-6200 to reserve your spot.
  
So, how about those abs? Can they hold up your own legs? One of the geniuses of CrossFit of course, is that the methodology is real life movements, compound movements that do not isolate muscle groups. It is always important to take stock of your strengths and weaknesses. Are your handstand pushups nonexistent because your arms are weak or because you are too floppy in the middle to hold up your legs? Is your deadlift child like because your posterior chain is like your Grandma’s or because your core is like putty? As you all experience every day, we take a little time each workout to target something specific. When it is mobility and flexibility some of you are crying and some are saying “I don’t feel anything”. When it is heavy lifting some of you are cheering and some of you are worried about getting BIG. Well, this time it is going to be your middle region. I don’t think that any of you will be happy, but I don’t think you have anything to complain about either. This is the part of you that rounds during deadlifts, hurts after thrusters, sags during pushups, doubles over during wall balls and breaks during a press. Get control of the middle region people!
As you are aware, we are primarily concerned with power output during a timed crossfit workout, so we use kipping pullups and swinging/kipped knees-to-elbows and toes-to-bar. Good for power output, but not so useful for holding your spine erect and safe during your shoulder press. I’d like to draw your attention to this mid-section you possess. Our spinal erectors and abdominal muscles are primarily isometric in their work load. They stabilize us. They aren’t workhorses like the hamstrings or the quads or the biceps or the traps. They stabilize. If you break, round, flop and hurt you very likely are not stabilizing adequately. Tonight and in the future you will be asked to perform non-kipping, non-swinging knees-to-elbows, l-raises, and toes-to-bars. Look what might be in your future…
 Calling all CrossFitters! This Saturday there will be NO OPEN GYM. I repeat NO OPEN GYM. You will instead come and compete in the grip strength contest. Don’t be afraid. CrossFitters are supposed to love new challenges and revel in their general preparedness. Come test yourself, cheer folks on and have fun! If any of you are excellent photographers…I’d love you to take the pics. Details are at: http://www.az-grip.com/contests.php
Registration is at 10:30 and the event begins at 11:00.
This video was made in Belgium in the Meerdael Forest. I’m pretty sure anything done in a forest by that name would be fantastic. Lots of you have gone on vacation this summer or are still on vacation. Many of you have requested workouts. It is pretty easy to give you guys a list of “vacation wods”, but I think you should use the true spirit of “vacation” for your workouts too. Try something like in this video. If you are in a city rather than a Meerdael Forest check out some of the beginner Parkour series. I know it is really fun to find crossfit affiliates while you are traveling and to experience the huge national and international fitness community that you are a part of, but don’t get into the mindset that working out and fitness only happens while in a place with barbells and pullups bars or while wearing your “workout” clothes.
I’ve mentioned this to you all before, but you have a very special cast of coaches in your CrossFit Affiliate. Your crew are all vibrant, physical people who are creative and think way outside the box. Yes, even the CrossFit box. I got to see this first hand this weekend when nearly all your coaches traveled to Flagstaff for CrossFit’s Mobility seminar. We all dutifully attended the day-long seminar and soaked it all up like the little dry Tucson sponges that we were. But you know what happened when the day was over? Your team was applying their CrossFit methodology to real life. Mountain biking, eating local grass-fed meat, camping in the rain, hiking, eating traditionally-harvested Saguaro fruit and sitting in the mud watching their kids play in the mud (it was an especially muddy experience). I honor my team of CrossFit coaches for the very reason that they use their knowledge of crossfit to become more powerful versions of themselves. Don’t forget, CrossFit isn’t about matching T-shirts, in-your-face slogans, and training with a certain type of bumper plate. That stuff just makes it fun. CrossFit is to empower you to go out and do and be the very thing you want to do or be. Are you a climber? A hockey player? A Mom? A student? A programmer? A firefighter? A researcher? Use crossfit to be better at all those things. Take your CrossFit out into your very own world.
   Good luck back in your senior year Colby
Check out these photos of Colby on his final day of a summer’s Starting Strength programming with me. Colby came in unable to deadlift more than 85lb for 5 rep and yesterday he did 175lb for a single! He benched 115 which is only about 5lb under his bodyweight, and he back squatted 165. Big improvements. Nice work Colby.
 A little bit later I’ll post a remarkable video of the hip bridge action…I’m not sure it can be considered work/family safe.
You all did a great job with this week’s third workout. There are movements that I often do not include in the conditioning portion of the programming because it is too easy to “sand bag” them (to start to perform the movement incorrectly, slowly and thus more easily). Hip bridges and hand stand pushup variations are two of these things. It is really easy to slip into an inclined pushup instead of a snazzy L-position and really easy to not fully complete the hip bridge, but that is not what we saw yesterday. It is really rewarding and impressive to watch all of you perform your movements conscientiously and correctly.
Aaron and his grip-strength/strong man posse will be in the gym tomorrow for Open Gym. Come and check in with him so you are prepared to compete on Saturday Aug 14!!
Don’t forget to be thinking about what CrossFit benchmark “Girl” workout you will attack at the end of next week. Talk to your trainers about it.
Do you think if one of your classmates gave you a couple slaps before you benched you could break records!?!? I know you guys are as excited as I am to be bench pressing. Ahhh, the sighs of relief from some members of our gym when they saw that on the board. And then, the looks of horror on the faces of others. Like, can I sneak out without anyone noticing?? Bench pressing is maybe the quintessential lift that sort of still says “giant sweaty guys crashing stuff around in weight rooms”. For those of you without much weight room experience this might feel like the last frontier. Laying on your back, someone holding a barbell out of over you, hoping your shorts fit appropriately with regard to the people standing in front of you…so many things to wonder about. What we won’t be wondering about inside CrossFit Works is whether or not anyone will get hurt bench pressing. It is the most dangerous lift primarily because people are sloppy and careless, not because benching is inherently dangerous. We will not be sloppy or careless of course, especially after you all listened to my stern speech on spotting technique. Remember locked out, fully, spotted while the bar travels over your neck and face. Congratulations to Erin, Angelica and Kim who had never benched before yesterday. Nice work!
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Don’t forget to sign up for the 8th Annual Arizona Outlaw Rowing Marathon. We have a white board set up so we can gather teams. Saturday the 18th, either solo, 4-person or 10-person teams.
